


Crutches

by redcameleon



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, SSFF, SasuSaku - Freeform, ssfanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:16:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redcameleon/pseuds/redcameleon
Summary: Sakura has a mental breakdown and Sasuke is there to comfort her
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29
Collections: SSMonth 2014





	Crutches

**Author's Note:**

> Old submission for SSMonth 2014 Day 28. Prompt: When the Power Fails.

Power. It is what Sakura has earned after years of vigorous training. She has become a formidable medic and kunoichi. After the war, she has been granted the title of head medic by the Fifth Hokage herself, acknowledging her apprentice’s contribution in the previous war. Sakura can feel pride and satisfaction bubble in her chest at the news. 

However, despite her formidable abilities, Sakura has had times when she feels weak, useless, and disappointed at herself. One of those times is when Sakura loses her patient, which just happened a few minutes ago. 

Her patient was a twenty two year old man who had suffered extreme blood loss and exposure to a new type of poison. He had just returned from a mission with external injuries, but the poison deteriorated his condition rapidly to the point of death. His friends are lucky enough to escape without being poisoned. Sakura did everything in her power to heal him, but it was too late. As the heart monitor beeps in a constant tone, she is forced to let him go and record the time of death. 

Hands trembling, face as pale as paper and sweat dripping from her forehead, she excuses herself from the operating room to cleanse her blood-stained hands. This is not the first time she has lost a patient which makes her even more angry and frustrated at herself. _How can I let this happen? How many more casualties are there going to be from my incompetence?_ Those thoughts linger in her mind for far too long, poisoning her mentally. 

She gazes to her trembling hands and clamps them, nails digging in her palms.

“Weak.” She mutters to herself.

.

.

The walk from the hospital to the Uchiha manor, where she is currently living with Sasuke, is full of despondency. The weather today hasn’t been friendly either. There’s a dull and gloomy feeling that surrounds her. Whether it’s from her mind, it is unclear. But she can feel how the atmosphere seems different. She just wants to get home and be alone. 

Sliding open the front door gently, she flicks the light switch and props her bag down on the couch. It is still four in the afternoon and Sasuke won’t be home until six. The urge to sleep the rest of the day off seems to be pleasant but she quickly brushes off the idea and soon enough textbooks, scrolls, and sheets of paper are laid out on the coffee table as she sits on the couch. 

“I need to be stronger.” She takes note of all her previous patient’s injuries. Muttering incoherent words at herself, she flips through textbooks after textbooks, scrolls after scrolls. 

.

.

It is almost six and Sasuke is walking home after a tiring day at the police station. Most of the time he is left to deal with theft cases and several complaints and other troublesome things. He is just glad he can now spend time with his lovely pink-haired girlfriend now that his shift is over. He glances up to the sky and ignores the ominous feeling building up in his chest. He thinks it’s probably because of the slight drizzle that is now beginning to pour heavier. Thankfully he reaches his home before the rain pours heavily over the rooftops, creating sounds of heavy water droplets to echo throughout the house. He stands for a moment on the porch, gazing around to see that the rain has created a thin curtain of water before sliding open the door that leads to the Uchiha’s house.

He glances towards the poorly lit living room. “Sakura should be home by now.” He thought. The medic usually comes home before he does. The presence of scattered books, scrolls, and paper on the table indicates that she is here but he can’t seem to find her chakra signature anywhere around the house. His eyebrows furrow when he sees that some of her books have carelessly fallen to the ground, crumpled paper scattered everywhere. He sighs before walking over to the fallen books and picking them up to place them back on the table. When he turns around, he sees a dent in the wall as big as the size of a fist. It wasn’t there when he left home so it must be Sakura’s doing. Sasuke can see something is bothering her. He looks outside to see the rain that is still pouring heavily. When he scans the house one more time for her presence and fails to find it, he puts on his shoes again and heads outside. 

He doesn’t know where she is but somehow his mind does, because he is unconsciously walking towards the training ground where they usually spar. The rain is making it difficult for him to see but once he reaches the familiar area, he can clearly see everything. Trees tumble to the ground, craters are all over the once even ground and there stands Sakura, facing over a tree before knocking it completely to the ground with a loud thump. He can see how she’s trying to release all that pent-up anger and frustration. From what, he does not know.

He approaches her slowly with even pace and stands about a foot away behind her. 

“Sakura, stop.” She turns her head over her shoulder to look at the raven-haired ninja. 

“Why?” She turns back and heads over to another tree before punching it. Due to its larger size, it doesn’t break and tumble right away, making Sakura even more angry. She keeps hitting the bark and Sasuke has had enough, he can clearly see her knuckles bleeding at the harsh contact. She isn’t wearing her gloves. He forcefully grabs her forearm just when she is about to give another punch and is forced to halt.

“Sakura.” He turns her around and grabs both of her wrists in his hands. “What are you doing?”

Sakura doesn’t look at him, she just directs her attention to the side. She doesn’t speak for a moment or two and Sasuke does not try to push her either.

“I’m still weak.” His eyes and grips soften. They let a moment of silence fill the gap before he pulls her close in an embrace. Sakura has always thought she is weak even though Sasuke has told her otherwise. He strokes her wet hair in a comforting way as they stand there silently in the rain.

“You’re not.” Sasuke keeps holding her tight despite the rain that is still pouring down on them. “You’re the strongest woman I know.”

Finally breaking down, Sakura lets herself sob in his arms as he holds her. The heavy rain seems to muffle her sobs, but Sasuke can feel her body trembling.

“I-.. I lost another patient today.” _So that’s what’s bothering her._ Sasuke has a few suspicions for her sudden outburst, and this is one of them. Sakura pulls away slightly, bringing up her palms and looking at them with such disgust.

“I tried to save him, but I couldn’t. These hands are useless!” Tears and raindrops stream down her face and Sasuke notices how exhausted she looks. How sorrow paints her features.

He brings his hands under hers, cupping them. He shakes his head.

“Sakura look at me.” He tilts her chin up to look at him. “These hands have saved thousands of lives. They saved mine countless times.” He can see tears pooling in her eyes again as she wraps her arms around him. He snakes his arms around her, caressing her head.

“Thank you Sasuke-kun.” He hears her whisper.

“Let’s go home.”

Humans will never be perfect. Even the strongest people have weaknesses. Despite all that, Sakura and Sasuke has managed to get through them together. Whenever their power fails, they will have each other to back them up. He will be her crutch as she will be his.


End file.
